Operations

Daimler Trucks to Bring New Detroit Medium-Duty Engine Line to U.S.

DETROIT — Daimler Trucks Friday announced a $375 million investment to enable production of the new DD5 and DD8 medium-duty engines at Detroit’s Redford, Mich., plant.

Joined by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and nearly 2,000 UAW workers, Daimler Trucks celebrated the announcement of the new lines of DD5 and DD8 medium-duty engines and officially launched production of the company’s Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission.

The new engines, first announced at the 2014 American Trucking Associations annual conference, will be available in select Daimler Truck North America vehicles by the end of 2016. Full production will take place in Detroit by the end of 2018, according to Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America.

The engines will be initially built and shipped from Daimler’s powertrain facility in Mannheim, Germany, with industrialization at the Detroit facility in 2018.

The theme of the day was “Built in Detroit,” and celebrated the long successful history of Detroit powertrain manufacturing at the Detroit brand Headquarters.

“Our investment is a tangible example of how we maximize the use of our global platforms optimized for regional markets,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for trucks and buses. “'Built in Detroit' is not just a marketing slogan; it is our commitment to strengthen the industrial base in Detroit and to deliver the most fuel-efficient engines to our customers. I am convinced: With our medium-duty engines we will repeat the success story of our best-selling heavy-duty engines.”

“Our investment is a tangible example of how we maximize the use of our global platforms optimized for regional markets,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for trucks and buses. Photo: David Cullen

The new Detroit DD5 and DD8 engine development is another example of Daimler’s international development effort, with global testing and validation being undertaken in both Europe and the United States, and series production in Europe since 2012.

For sale in limited quantities, the Detroit DD5 medium-duty engine will be available in 2016 on the Freightliner M2 product line, with extensive availability in 2018 across DTNA’s product portfolio including Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, and Freightliner Custom Chassis vehicles.

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